Republicans and Democrats Trade Blame on Super Committee Talks

Let alone agree on a plan to reduce the deficit, Republicans and Democrats can't even agree on what happened at Tuesday's Super Committee talks. Republican Sen. Rand Paul told Fox News's Sean Hannity that not only did Democrats reject the Republicans offer to raise federal tax collections by nearly $300 billion over the next decade, but that they aren't willing to negotiate at all. "Democrats have walked away from the table and they're refusing to talk to the Republicans about a deal and they will not counter any offers and basically there's an impass and it's starting to look like they don't want any deal at all," Rand told Hannity on his show this afternoon. Democratic Super Committee member Rep. Chris Van Hollen rejects that claim, tellingNational Journal's Dan Friedman, it's "absolutely ridiculous." We haven’t stepped away from anything," said Sen. Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington. "There is a lot of conversation, a lot of work going on. We understand the deadline in front of us." The super committee has two weeks to reach a deal before its Nov. 23 deadline.

News reports are focusing on the Germanwings pilot's possible depression, following a familiar script in the wake of mass killings. But the evidence shows violence is extremely rare among the mentally ill.